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Giving It Another Shot
So you’ve come back from four or five years at college, and moved back to your hometown. You’ve got the job, a new car and a pretty swanky apartment somewhere in the city, so naturally your next move is finding a mate. After a few months in the blind dating game, you decide maybe someone you already know is your soul mate. It’s been happening a lot, according to your Facebook newsfeed. So you put some feelers out there and settle on an old high school fling to squire about town one night. You went to the sophomore homecoming dance together, so you might as well give it another shot. Unfortunately, this person has changed quite a bit since you two were bumping and grinding as 16 year olds in your high school’s gym. For some reason, you’re even more awkward than you were in high school while out on this date.
Some doors close for a reason.
The Rebound
So you broke up with your college sweetheart. It’s rough. I’ve been there. Steadily dating in college is like two steps below getting married. It’s serious business. Maybe the person you’re getting set to date is coming off a lengthy relationship, and you’re just getting serious about potentially settling down. Little do you know that you’re going to be constantly compared to their ex in their mind. Just hope they can keep it together during dinner. Your heart has to go out to them, because the first date after a rough breakup is always a tough one, but if it’s any consolation, there’s little to no doubt that they’re going to hook up with you in their incredibly vulnerable state. Nothing wrong with taking advantage of the situation, but odds are this isn’t going anywhere past someone’s bedroom.
The Next Step
You’ve been hooking up on and off for a couple of months, and even had a pregnancy scare. You’ve never seen this person sober, and probably don’t know their last name. They’re still saved as “chick from Kelly’s” in your phone, and you aren’t even Facebook friends. Well, after a pregnancy scare, you two decided it might be best to get to know one another in case a baby just so happens to come out of your fornicating. A baby of sin. Upon hanging out with this person sober, you find out that the two of you have nothing in common and can’t stand one another. If anything, all you’re doing is breeding a future child of a messy divorce. It’s probably best to just keep it casual and well protected.
The Co-Worker
This is a terrible, terrible idea. Years of watching The Office has brainwashed you into thinking that it’s 100% OK to date a co-worker. Stop right there, young go-hard. You date someone you work with and you’re only going to make things awkward around the office. Not to mention the lengthy HR relationship disclosure meeting you’re going to have to go through, where you’re going to have to divulge every aspect of your relationship to someone you work with. I get it. You’re young and lonely, and probably desperate, but there are plenty of fish in the sea. If you really like this person, maybe start looking for a job elsewhere and then pursue a relationship with this person. You’re only going to make your co-workers uncomfortable around the office. There are plenty of stories of office romance gone horribly wrong.
Don’t jeopardize your career with love/lust.
The Setup
Even worse than dating a co-worker is the certain dread that will accompany an older co-worker trying to set you up with their sons, daughters, nieces, nephews or former babysitters. First off, you don’t know this person very well, and second, you’ve seen the picture of their children on their desk. Do not want. The awkwardness may not come on the date, and you might even hit it off with the setup, but if things ever go wrong in that relationship, you’re going to be working with someone who was very close with your future ex. That would only make work worse than it already is. Stick with who you know. Getting set up by people you know in general is a dangerous way to date in the first place. Don’t complicate things around the office by making yourself too available to co-worker’s acquaintances.
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TheChampionsTour
TheChampionsTour (@ChampsTourTFM) is a contributing writer for Post Grad Problems, Rowdy Gentleman, and Total Frat Move .
@TheChampsTour